County supervisors approve Dana Wharf tenant lease amendments

SANTA ANA — In a move aimed to keep business running as smooth as possible should the Dana Point Harbor Revitalization Plan ever take place, the Orange County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved lease amendments that will allow Dana Wharf tenants to remain in business during planned construction.

Supervisors also approved by unanimous vote a 10-year lease for K.D.L. Services, Inc., to continue its operation of the Dana Point Harbor fuel dock during the Nov. 25 meeting. Seven tenants – Proud Mary’s, Harbor Deli, Turk’s, Jon’s Fish Market, Top Brass, Golden Galleon and Slice of New York– were granted lease amendments to allow them to remain in business and continue offering its services to those who visit the harbor when it eventually undergoes construction.

Outgoing Supervisor Patricia Bates, whose district included Dana Point Harbor and served in her final meeting before heading to Sacramento to begin her term as a state senator, said moving the leases forward would be “critical to the delivery of our harbor revitalization process.”

“By providing these leases, that’s stability to our long time relationship with our partners there. We need the revenue base and we certainly need to keep [the public] coming to the harbor,” Bates said.

Speaking on behalf of the merchants, Jim Miller said the lease amendments were a promise fulfilled.

“These lease amendments for Mariners Village and Dana Wharf keep the promise with the merchants and the public to move the revitalization forward. This is an important part of the revitalization,” said Miller, who owns Coffee Importers at Dana Point Harbor.

County staff echoed similar thoughts, adding the lease amendments would also be a good move for the harbor.

“Approval of the lease amendment with tenants … located within Dana Wharf … will maintain a good working relationship with the tenants so that Dana Point Harbor will continue to receive consistent rent from the tenants prior to and during the construction of the Revitalization Plan, and tenants will continue to provide the current level of services to the public at Dana Point Harbor,” county staff said in a report.

“As the county moves forward with the Revitalization Plan, which includes renovation of Dana Wharf and new construction of buildings, as well as the demolition of many existing structures, it is critical for the merchants to be supported in maintaining their current level of services to the public during this transition period,” county staff continued.

The board’s vote followed a similar action in October when similar lease amendments were approved for 20 merchants.

Each of the seven merchant tenants impacted by last month’s vote will be given an option to extend their respective leases by five years and given a 20 percent reduction in base rent if impacted by revitalization construction.

The seven tenants are, according to county staff, “located in buildings on the Dana Wharf that will remain in place and will receive exterior renovations as part of the Revitalization Plan.” They have until Dec. 31 to decide whether to extend their respective leases until July 2020.

County officials hope the lease amendments would result in retaining tenants at the harbor during revitalization while mitigating the construction’s impact on business operation and public access.
Meanwhile, K.D.L. Services was given a new 10-year lease agreement to operate the Dana Point Harbor Fuel Dock. Its current 20-year lease expires Dec. 31.

Retaining K.D.L. Services as fuel dock operator, county staff said, allows the company to make improvements and renovations while also implementing “a comprehensive recycling program.”
K.D.L. Services has operated the fuel dock since Jan. 1, 1994. Among the improvements it has made included replacing the fuel pipeline and regularly maintaining fuel tanks.

The new lease would require K.D.L. Services to provide free parking in a public lot adjacent to the fuel dock and pay at least $70,800 annually in rent, up from $42.000.

“The tenant will also be required to install recycling bins and implement a recyclables management program that coincides with the Dana Point Harbor Revitalization project and its related ‘green’ initiatives,” county staff said.

Other requirements included continuing payments on all janitorial, maintenance and utility costs associated with the fuel dock and installing new features such as double wall piping in the fuel tanks, signage and awning, recycling bins and an enclosure for a 55-gallon drum behind the main building.

Finally, the new lease also requires K.D.L. Services to replace the landscaping and irrigation with drought-tolerant elements and renovate the main building’s interior and exterior with a $60,000 budget.